This invention relates generally to boat attachments, and more particularly to a boat-mountable tray on which fish can be cleaned, bait cut, etc., which has a cutting board, which is detachable from the boat, and which drains over the side or stem of the boat.
Disposal of the unused parts of fish that fishermen catch is a major problem for marinas and for areas where boats congregate generally, as well as for the fishermen themselves, especially those who live a good distance from their boats and those who trail their boats behind their cars. The logical place to dispose of fish waste is the open fishing grounds, where the waste will disperse and become food for other marine life.
Most boats used by sportfishermen have no facilities for cleaning fish, and boat owners have traditionally been reluctant to improvise, since the quantities of wood-staining, insect-attracting, and foul-smelling fluids and other refuse involved can be considerable, and the effects can linger.
The afterdecks and gunwales of sportfishing boats are often not flat, and therefore cannot properly accommodate an ordinary tray set thereon. Even when said surfaces are flat they are seldom of the proper working height. In any case, an ordinary tray would provide no drainage capacity. Trays specially designed to fit into existing marine hardware (such as fishing rod holders) on fishing boats are of very limited application, due to the lack of standardization of design, size, orientation, etc., among such hardware.
The present invention is directed to a solution to the above problems and additional problems as will appear.
It is a general object of the invention to provide a fish-cleaning tray which can be mounted on the variously shaped afterdecks, gunwales, and other boat surfaces, and so that an opening in the tray can be suspended out over the water for drainage, in order that the boat not be soiled.
Another object of this invention is to provide a cutting board on said tray, since many of the best materials for tray construction (such as molded plastic, stainless steel, etc.) are not good cutting surfaces.
Another object of this invention is to provide a fish-cleaning tray the components of which can be readily disassembled for easy cleaning and storage.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the detailed description thereof and from the drawings.